This invention is directed to slider-transducer assemblies for magnetic recording and more particularly to ferrite slider assemblies where the head and transducer gap are formed simultaneously with the air bearing surfaces and the subambient pressure surfaces of the slider.
Higher magnetic recording density requires correspondingly reduced head-to-disk spacing. This means that the slider will fly lower at a given rotational speed. The reduced fly height, combined with the trend toward thinner media coating with fewer or a total absence of wear particles and the trend toward smaller, more delicate head elements, places severe limits on the head/disk wear performance, especially during starting and stopping operations. At the same time, higher density recording at a smaller head to disk spacing requires low compliance modulation. This in turn requires the air bearing to be stiffer, which requirement is difficult to achieve in conventional air bearings unless wear requirements are disregarded and increases are made in the gram load on the suspension. In summary, to attain good wear performance, low slider-media spacing and low compliance modulation is a difficult design problem.